
Class 



'^ ^Az^ 



Book_^^-Ji^ 



I Congress, / HOUSK OF REPRP:SENTATIVES. J Document 

/ Se.^sum. I 1 ^o. 59. 



Bulletin No. 306 



Spr,><^ i ^' Descriptive Geology, 109 /// 
^'"'^ ( F. Geography, 54 y^JT 



DEPARTMENT OF THE JNTEKIOR 

UNITED STAGES (JEOLOGTCAI. SURVEY 

CHARLES J).'WAL('()TT, J)lRECTOR 



RATE OF RECESSION OF NIAGARA FALLS 



BY 



G-. K. GMLBERT 



ACCOMPANIED BY A REPORT ON THE SURVEY OF THE CREST 



^\?r. C-A.RA^EL H^LH. 




WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 
1907 






FEB 23 1907 

D.ofa 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 

Introduction 5 

The Horseshoe Fall 13 

The iVinerican Fall 17 

The map of 1842 23 

Summary and conclusion 25 

Report of survey of crest line of Niagara Falls, by W. Carvel Hall 26 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



Page. 

Plate I.'' Horseshoe Fall, 1886 5 

H: Map, crest lines of Niagara Falls in 1842, 1875, 1886, 1890, and 1905 10 

nir Sketch of Horseshoe Fall, 1827 15 

IV: Photograph of Horseshoe Fall, 1895 15 

V.' Sketch of American Fall from Goat Island, 1827 17 

VI.' Photograph of American Fall from Goat Island, 1895 J7 

VII. Sketch of American Fall from Prospect Point, 1827 19 

VIII. Photograph of American Fall from Prospect Point, 1895 19 

IX. American Fall, 1854 or 1855, from daguerreotype 20 

X. Eastern part of Horseshoe Fall, about 1885 22 

XI. American Fall, about 1885 22 

Fig. 1. Diagrammatic profile of Horseshoe Fall . 5 

2. Bird's-eye view of Niagara River 6 

3. Map of Niagara gorge 6 

4. Outlines of Horseshoe Fall in 1842, 1875, and 1905 14 

5. Sketch of American Fall, with lines used in transferring directions 20 

6. Map of Niagara Falls, with lines of direction 20 

7. Plan of American Fall 21 

8. Profile and section of American Fall 23 

3 




JZ <D 



RATE OF RFXESSION OF NIAGARA FALLS. 



By G. K. Gilbert. 






WW'Mt. 

wmmmm 



IIS^TRODUCTIOIS^. 

The erosive work of the cataract of Niagara is exceptionally rapid. 
This depends primarily on the great power of the falling water, but 
in part on the character of the local geologic structure. The rocks 
are stratified and lie nearly level. The upper layers are of limestone, 
strong and resistant; the lower, consisting chiefly of shale, are com- 
paratively weak and yielding. As the shales are worn away below 
the limestone beds are undermined, so that their edges project like 
a cornice and are deprived of support. From time to time they 
yield to the force of their own weight and fall away in large blocks. 
Each rock fall causes a jar of the 
ground which is perceived by 
people in the vicinity, and results 
in a modification of the crest of 
the cataract which is readily seen 
by anyone familiar with its out- 
line. Such changes of the crest 
have been observed from time to 
time ever since the neighboring 
banks of the river were occupied 
by white men. It is highly probable that they were also observed 
by Indians before the advent of white men, but on this point I have 
made no inquiries, as Indian traditions are not likely to be sufiiciently 
definite to aid in determining the rate of progressive change in the 
position of the cataract. 

The surface of Lake Erie is 325 feet higher than the surface of 
Lake Ontario. The belt of land between them includes two plains, 
of which the higher and broader is raised but little above the level of 
Lake Erie, and the lower slopes gently to the shore of Lake Ontario. 
The descent from the upper to the lower is abrupt, constituting a 
line of cliffs parallel to the shore of Ontario and known as the Niagara 



Fig. 1.— Diagrammatic profile of Horseshoe Fall, 
illustrating mode of erosion and recession. 



BATE OF EECESSION OF NIAGAEA FALLS. 



escarpment. The river, issuing from Lake Erie at Buffalo, flows at 
first on the upper plain. It is there broad and comparatively shal- 
low and has no valley. At the falls it suddenly drops into the head 
of a narrow gorge which is 6 miles long and extends to the escarp- 
ment. Within the gorge it is narrow and contained by steep walls. 
Near the head of the gorge the water is deep, the current moderate, 
and the descent small, but farther on are fierce rapids with steep 
descent. Some of these relations are shown in fig. 2. As the falls 

are at the head of the gorge, it 
is evident that their recession 
makes the gorge longer. 

Among the early observers of 
the falls was McCauslin, who 
remained there from 1774 to 
1783. After describing the es- 
carpment at Queenston he says : ^ 

It is universally believed that the cata- 
ract was originally at this ridge, and that 
it has by degrees worn away and broke 
down the rock for the space of these six 
or seven miles. Some have supposed that 
from these appearances, conjectures might 
be formed of the age of this part of the 
world. To enter upon such a calculation, 
it would previously be necessary to ascer- 
tain how much the fall had retired in a 
hundred years, or any other certain period. 
Suppose that we were even in possession 
of such a fact, still the conclusions drawn 
from it would be liable to the greatest 
uncertainty, as it is evident that the space 
of rock broke down and worn away in a 
certain number of years would not always 
be the same. The more or less hardness 
and brittleness of the rock in different 
parts; the greater or less severity of the frosts in different years; and the quantities of 
water that flowed at different periods in the cataract of the river, would all occasion con- 
siderable variations. This retrocession of the Falls does not by any means go on so quickly 
as some have imagined. During nine years that I have remained at Niagara, very few 
pieces of the rock have fallen down which were large enough to make any sensible altera- 
tion in the brink; and in the space of two years I could not perceive, by a pretty accurate 
measurement, that the North-East brink had in the least receded. If we adopt the 
opinion of the Falls having retired six miles, and if we suppose the world to be 5,700 years 
old, this will give about sixty-six inches and an half for a year, or sixteen yards and two 
thirds for nine years, which I can venture to say has not been the case since 1774. 

a McCauslin, Robert, An account of an earthy substance found near the Falls of Niagara and vulgarly 
called the spray of the falls, together with some remarks on the falls: Trans. Am. Philos. Soc, vol. 3, 
1793. (Read October 16, 1789.) The passage cited is on pages 23-24. 




Fig. 2. — Bird's-eye view of Niagara River. The 
view is southward, or upstream, from a point 
above the shore of Lake Ontario, and shows the 
two plains, the escarpment, and the gorge. B, 
Buffalo. NF, Niagara Falls. L, Lewiston. Q, 
Q.ueenston. EE, Niagara escarpment. 



INTRODUCTION. 



Enys, who visited the cataract in 1787, quotes the opinion of 
residents that ''the Falls have altered their position or retreated 
since the memory of men," " but dissents from the view (which seems 
also to be generally entertained) that the original situation of the 
falls was at Queenston. 

Weld, whose visit to the falls was in 1796, says that ''even within 
the memory of many of the present inhabitants of the country, the 
falls have receded several yards." ^ 
He favors the theory that the gorge 
from Lewiston to the falls was 
made by the falls, and his discus- 
sion of the subject shows him to 
have been a close observer and 
clear thinker. 

Volney two years later repeats 
the general statement of observed 
recession, and adds:^ 




Horseshoe Fal 



If the European colonists or travellers, to 
whom this region has been accessible for a 
century and a half, had made careful memo- 
randums, from time to time, of the state of 
the fall, we should, by this time, have been 
able to trace the progress of those revolu- 
tions, which are easily proved to have taken 
place, by vestiges and indications which pre- 
sent themselves at every step. 

And still further, in a footnote : ^ 

It is extremely desirable that the govern- 
ment of the United States, at present under 
the direction of a friend to the arts and sciences [Jefferson], should order to be drawn up 
an exact description of the present state of the cataract. This statement, compared with 
subsequent appearances, observed from time to time, would enable us to trace with cer- 
tainty the changes that may hereafter take place. 

. Francis Hall, 1816, says:^ 

The name of "the Horse shoe," hitherto given to the larger Fall, is no longer applicable: 
it has become an acute angle. * * * An officer who had been stationed in the 
neighbourhood thirty years, pointed out to me the alteration which had taken place in the 
centre of the Fall, which he estimated at about eighteen feet in the tliirty years. 



Fig. 3. — Map of the Niagara gorge, showing its 
relations to the falls and the escarpment. 



a Rept. Canadian Archives, 1886 (published 1887), p. ccxxxii. 

b Weld, Isaac, jr., Travels through the States of North America and the Provinces of Tapper and Lower 
Canada during the years 1795, 1796, and 1797, London, 1799, p. 320. 

cVolney, C. F., A view of the soil and climate of the United States of Aincrica. etc., translated by 
C. B. Brown, Philadelphia, 1804, p. 92. 

d Op. cit. 

«nall Lieut. Francis, Travels in Canada, and the Umted States, in 1816 and 1817, Boston; repub- 
lished from the London edition 1)y Wells & Lilly, 1818, p. 144. 



8 RATE OF RECESSION OF NIAGARA FALLS. 

Gilpin, whose visit was probably a few years later, says:^ 

The toe of the shoe, however, is now an angle, rather than a curve ; but the inhabitants 
and early visitors affirm that it was formerly more round, and has gradually assumed its 
present angular form, within their recolltction. * * * y[j- Forsyth, who has resided 
upon the spot for more than forty years, says, that within his recollection, the centre of 
this fall has receded from ten to fifteen yards; and, as some intelligent travellers have 
placed upright a few large stones in front of the hotel, which, when taken in a line, point 
exactly to that spot, it will of course be ascertained, at the end of a certain number of 
years, how much this centre recedes annually. 

Schoolcraft, whose visit was in 1820, describes the undermining 
of the limestone by the fretting away of the shale, and mentions with 
approval the theory that the falls were anciently at Lewiston. He 

says : ^ 

* * * The wasting effects of the water, and the yielding nature of the rocks, remain 
the same, and manifest the slow process of a change, at the present period, as to position, 
height, form, division of column and other characters, which form the outlines of the great 
scene ; and this change is probably sufficiently rapid in its operation, if minute observa- 
tions were taken, to imprint a different character upon the Falls, at the close of every cen- 
tury. Nothing in the examination of the geological constitution, and mineral strata of 
our continent, conveys a more striking illustration of its remote antiquity, (still doubted 
by many) than a consideration of the time, it must have required for the waters of ISiagara, 
to have worn their channel, for such an immense distance, through the rock. It is true, 
we are in possession of no certain data, for estimating the annual rate of their progress, or 
for comparing the results with the Mosaic history of the earth. All that can be presumed 
is, that this progress, is now as rapid, as it was hi form.er ages. * * * 

Maps and descriptions are now extant, which will enable us to fix the rate of its progress, 
on the expiration of the present century, and we should not be disappointed in our antici- 
pations, if its progress is found, greatly to exceed the prevalent expectation. To aid in 
the determination, the Island of Iris, which extends from the brink of the Fall, up the river, 
and which is now connected with the shore, by a wooden bridge, appears to present great 
facilities. A simple measurement of its length, with a monument for recording it at its 
head, would convert it into a graduated scale, and the point of the indentation of the 
Horse Shoe Fall, could, in like manner, bo perpetuated on either shore, by a series of cor- 
responding celesiiai observations, for determining the longitude of the extreme point of 
til at mcurvation. Distant ages would thus be furnished with data, the precision of which, 
would probably enable them to throw new and important lights on the history of the earth, 
and the changes it has undergone. Is this suggestion of too visionary a nature, to merit 
the consideration of geological societies? 

Capt. Basil Hall, R. M., made a study of the cataract in 1827, 
and two years later published an excellent description, from which 
I quote :c 

In the course of our investigations and rambles, we met a gentleman who had resided 
for the last thirty -six years in this neighborhood — happy mortal! He told us that the 
Great Horse Shoe Fall had, within his memory, gone back forty or fifty yards — that is to 
say, the edge, or arch of the rock over which the water poured, had broken down from time 
to time to that extent. This account was corroborated by that of another gentleman, 
who had been resident on the spot for forty years. 

a Gilpin, H. D., A northern tour; being a guide to Saratoga, Lake George, Niagara, Canada, Bos- 
ton, etc., Philadelphia, 1825, p. 149. 

b Schoolcraft, Henry R., Narrative journal of travels, etc., made in 1820, Albany, 1821, pp. 45-47. 

c Hall, Capt. Basil, Travels in North America in the years 1827 and 1828, vol. 1, Edinburgh, 1829, pp. 
195-197. 



INTRODUCTION. 9 

iVs these statements came from persons of good authority, 1 was led to examine the geo- 
logical circumstances more minutely; for I could not conceive it possible, that the mere 
wearing of the water could perform such rapid changes upon hard lime-stone. The explana- 
tion is very simple, however, when the nature of the different strata is attended to. In the 
first place, they are laid exactly horizontal, the top stratum being a compact calcareous 
rock. In the next place, I observed, that in proportion as the examination is carried down- 
wards, the strata are found to be less and less indurated, till, at the distance of a hundred 
feet from the topmost stratum, the rock turns to a sort of loose shale, which crumbles to 
pieces under the touch ; and is rapidly worn away by the action of the violent blasts of wind, 
rising out of the pool into which this enormous cascade is projected. 

In process of time, as the lower strata are fairly eaten or worn away, the upper part of the 
rock must be left without a foundation. But owing to the tough nature of the upper strata, 
they continue to project a long way over before they break dowm. There must come periods, 
however, every now and then, when the overhanging rock, with such an immense load of 
water on its shoulders, will give way, and the crest, or edge, of the Fall will recede a certain 
distance. At the time of our visit, the top of the rock, or that over which the river was 
directed, overhung the base, according to the rough estimate I made, between 35 and 40 
feet, thus forming a hollow space, or cave, between the falling water and the face of the rock. 

While the above lines were actually in the printer's hands, my eye was accidentally caught 
by the following paragraph in a newspaper: — 

''Niagara Falls. — A letter from a gentleman at that place, dated Dec. 30, 1828, states, 
that on the Sunday evening preceding, about 9 o'clock, two or three successive shocks or 
concussions were felt, the second of which was accompanied by an unusual rushing sound of 
the waters. The next morning it was discovered, that a large portion of the rock in the bed 
of the river, at the distance of about two-fifths from the Canada shore to the extreme angle 
of the Horse Shoe, had broken off, and fallen into the abyss below. The whole aspect of the 
Falls is said to be much changed by this convulsion. A course of high winds for several 
days previous to its occurrence, producing an accumulation of water in the river, is supposed 
to have been the immediate cause. This gradual crumbling away of the rock over which 
the Niagara is precipitated, adds plausibility to the conjecture, that the Falls were once as 
low dowTi as Lewistown, and have for centuries been travelling up towards their present 
position." 

Captain Hall also published a series of sketches of the falls," and as 
these were made with the camera lucida they have exceptional value. 
They, in fact, constitute the first record bearing on the rate of reces- 
sion from which measurements can profitably be made, and there is 
frequent reference to them in other parts of this paper. 

The precechng citations serve to show the early development of 
three ideas: (1) That the crest of the Horseshoe Fall is receding 
upstream, the recession being caused b}^ the energ}^ of the cataract; 
(2) that the gorge below the falls was created by this process of reces- 
sion, the position of the falls ha^^ng originally been where the mouth 
of the gorge now is, and (3) that it is possible, b}^ sufficientl}^ accurate 
observations, to determine the rate at which the change is taking 
place. 

Associated w^ith the idea of measuring the rate of recession was that 
of applying it to the determination of the time consumed by the river 

a Hall, Capt. Basil, Forty otchings, from sk(>tch('s made with the camera lucida, in North America, 
in 1827 and 1828, Cadcll and Co., Edinburgh, 1829, pis. 1-5. 



10 BATE OF KEOESSION OF NIAGARA FALLS. 

in the making of the gorge. By some of the earher writers the age of 
the gorge was obscurely connected with the age of the world as esti- 
mated from Biblical data ; by others it was recognized as a small frac- 
tion of geologic time. With the progress of knowledge of the local 
geologic history there was increasing interest in the time estimates for 
the river, and the various conditions affecting the estimate came to be 
scrutinized with much care. As developed by careful study, the 
problem proved to be complex and difficult. It came to be recog- 
nized not only that the rate of recession in different parts of the gorge 
must have varied with the height of the cataract, the temporary width 
of the stream, and the thickness of the capping limestone, which is 
different in different places, but also in a very important way with the 
volume of water carried by the river, which has been subject to 
extreme fluctuations. The influence of these various conditions 
assumed prominence in the discussion, and altho the rate of present 
recession came to be fairly well known, opinions still difl'ered widely as 
to the total period represented by the gorge. The age of the gorge is 
outside the scope of the present paper, and the subject is here mentioned 
only to show the basis of the strong interest which has been felt in the 
determination of the present rate of recession. 

' In 1841 James Hall, then geologist of the fourth district of New 
York, undertook the preparation of an authoritative map of the crest 
of the falls, and employed for that purpose E. L. Blackwell, a civil 
engineer. The work was completed in the autumn of 1842, at which 
time a series of monuments were established at the principal trigono- 
metric points. The map was published the following year,<* together 
with descriptions of the monuments and a table of compass bearings 
from the various trigonometric points to objects whose positions were 
determined by the method of intersection. It was the purpose of this 
survey to make definite record of the existing position of the crest 
line and connect this record with permanent monuments, so that by 
means of a similar survey at some future time the extent of changes 
might be determined. This purpose it has served. Monuments then 
placed have been used as starting points in subsequent surveys, and 
two of them are still extant. 

As this work by our great master in geology marks a turning point 
in the subject — the change from the vague to the definite — I quote a 
few passages to show his point of view: 

Among the phenomena of waterfalls and river gorges, the Cataract of Niagara is justly 
regarded as holding the first rank, and as standing an index in the path of time, by which 
the influence of numberless ages upon the surface of our planet may be recorded. Its 
present, its former and its prospective conditions have engaged the investigation and specu- 
lation of many philosophers. The possible consequences of its entire reduction, and the 
drainage of the upper lakes, have excited the wonder and the apprehensions of many. The 

a Nat. Hist. New York, pt. 4, Geology, 1843, opp. p. 402. 



BULLETIN NO. 306 PL. II 



DEPART]\LEKT OF THE INTERIOR 

) STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

CHARLES D. WALCOTT, Director 

[NES OF NIAGARA FALLS 

UR\Ti:YS aiADE IN 1&42, 1875, 188G, 1890, and 1905 

COMPILED BY 
lARVEL HALL, TOPOGRAPHER U. S. G. S. 

Scale 
100 200 300 400 500 600 feet 



EXPLANATION 

Survey of 1842 

Survey of 1875 

Survey of 1886 

-Survey of 1890 

Survey of 1905 



- WEST GABLE 

■ FOOT OF INCLINE 



->^fOSPECT POINT 




/ /FLAG STAFF 
/ /head of INCl 



U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 



BULLETIN NO. 306 PL. I 




DEPiUlTMEN'T OF THE INTEKIOR 

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

OHAIiLJES U. WALCOTT, Director 

CREST LINES OF NIAGARA FALLS 

FROJI SURVEYS MADE IN 1&12, 1875, 18SC, 1890, and 1005 

COMPILED BY 

■W. CAEVEL HALL, TOPOGRAPHEB U. S. G. S. 

Scale 

1 00 100 200 300 400 500 60 feet 

EXPLANATION 

Survey of 1842 

Survey of 1875 

Survey of 1886 

_ Survey of I 890 

. Survey of 1905 

WEST CABLE 
//FOOT OF INCLINE 
ROOK OF AGES J! 

/ /■ A'^^i^^PROSPECT POINT ;/ 

r ■* ( / Vmeao of incline 

C A ^ ) 



INTRODITCTTON. 1 1 

estimated time of its ixn-ession has sprinkled grey hairs among the fresh locks of the young 
and blooming earth, and alarmed those who would consider her still youthful in years. 

But amid all these speculations, Niagara still remains; the thunder of its cataract still 
reverberates through its deep chasms, and its ocean of waters still rolls on as, unknown to 
the white man, it rolled a thousand years ago. When we come to the investigation of facts, 
we find that, except to travellers and the aborigines, Niagara was unknown until within the 
last fifty yeai"s; and that even during this time no accurate observations have been made, 
u!) monument erected to determine whether the falls are retrograding or not. The testi- 
mony of living witnesses and historical evidence unite in confirming the opinion that the 
water is wearing away the rock, and that the outline of the falls has changed. From these 
general observations, it has been estimated that they have receded at the rate of about forty 
feet in fifty years. Without pretending to question the accuracy of this or any other esti-' 
mate of the kind, or to establish any rate of retrogression in the falls, we may examine its 
present, and from numerous facts infer its past condition ; and from these we are entitled 
to draw an inference for the future, though without specifying time. a 

The foresight with ^^ hich he planned the survey and record for the 
specific purpose is shown by the statement with which the map is 
introduced : 

The accompanying map has been constructed from a very careful survey by Mr. Black- 
well, giving the present position and outline of both falls, and the liver banks upon either 
side. Upon application to His Excellency Sir Charles Bagot, late Governor-General of 
Canada, I was authorized to establish monuments upon the Canada shore, and was also 
kindly offered every other aid to promote the objects of the surve}^ These monuments, 
together with those in New-York, will enable future observers to ascertain the amount of 
recession during any given period. In places where the rock is exposed, copper bolts have 
been fixed, and in other places hewn stone monuments. The starting point for all these 
observations is a copper bolt fixed in the rock on the north side, near the edge of the Ameri- 
can fall. * * * i) 

In 1875 the second surve}^ of the crest hne was made by the United 
States Lake Survey under the direction of Maj. C. B. Comstock, 
the field work being by F. M. Towar. The United States Geological 
Survey undertook the third survey, which was made by Robert S. 
Woodward in 1886. The fourth survey was made in 1890, by A. S. 
Kibbe, under the direction of John Bogart, State engineer of New 
York, and a very full report was published. In this report the maps 
of the three preceding surveys are republished, and the crest lines 
given by those surveys are also placed on the new map.^ The fifth 
survey was made in the spring of 1905, by the United States Geologi- 
cal Survey and the State engineer of New York, the work being done 
by W. Carvel ITall, and his report follows this paper. 

The crest lines determined by the five successive surveys are platted 
together on PI. II, and their examination demonstrates clearly the 
gradual retreat of the crest of the Horseshoe Fall. Each mapped 
crest line is, on the whole, farther upstream than its predecessor, and 

a Nat. Hist. New York, pt. 4, Geology. 1843, p. .38.3. 
'> Op. cit., p. 402. 

<-Sov(>iitli -Vnn. Tlopt. Comrs. State Res. Niagarii for fisciil year OetolxT I, 1SS9, to September .30, 
1890, Al))any, 1891. 



12 EATE OF EECESSION OF NIAGARA FALLS. 

their interspaces are roughly comparable with the time intervals 
between the making of the surveys; but each of these statements 
requires qualification. The region of maximum retreat has shifted 
from one part to another of the crest during the period of observation, 
so that in any one part the rate of retreat has been irregular; and 
when the chart is closely scrutinized it is found that the different 
lines overlap one another at various points, so that if all of them were 
rigidly accurate their record would show that the crest line had in 
places advanced downstream, instead of retreating. In the report 
of the last survey it is suggested that some of these discrepancies may 
be explained by an actual sliding forward of upper layers of limestone 
before they toppled over the brink, but the greater discrepancies 
can not be explained in this way, and the discrepancies as a whole are 
unquestionably due to errors in the topographic work, chiefly thru 
failure to identify points previously sighted when intersecting bear- 
ings were taken. Fortunately, they are not of such character or 
extent as to impair the general conclusions to be drawn from the 
work; but they serve to caution the student against any overrefine- 
ment in the discussion of results. 

The Erie Canal is supplied with water from the Niagara River at 
Buffalo, the Welland Canal is supplied from Lake Erie, and the 
Chicago Drainage Canal draws water from Lake Michigan. All the 
water thus diverted is withdrawn from the cataract. So also is 
water diverted from the river above the falls for factory purposes and 
for use in the generation of electricity. In recent years the diver- 
sion for electric power has rapidly increased, and existing charters 
authorize so large a draft upon the river that it has come to be recog- 
nized that the scenic value of the cataract is in peril. A vigorous 
protest has been made by lovers of natural beauty, and negotiations 
are in progress for an international agreement to check and regulate 
the economic exploitation of the river. Whatever the outcome of 
these negotiations, there is no reason to expect that the natural flow 
of the river will be restored, and it is believed that from this time 
onward the natural conditions will be so far interfered with as to 
modify the rate of recession. As the geologist is primarily inter- 
ested in the natural rate of recession, the present time is opportune 
for a summing up of the data. In fact, the survey of 1905 was 
ordered in view of the change of conditions from natural to artificial. " 

a Since this paper was written it has come to my knowledge that a resurvey of the Niagara River is 
being made by the United States Lake Survey, the field work for the crest of the falls having been done 
in the summer of 1906. This will afford an additional datum on the rate of recession, but is not likely 
to affect the computation to a material extent. The addition of one year to the period of observation 
will probably be offset by changes occurring within that year. Inspecting the Horseshoe curve in 
August, 1906, I was confident that a salient near the angle of the curve, which was recorded by the 
surveys of 1890 and 1905, did not then exist.— G. K. G. 



RATE OF RECESSION OF NIAGARA FALLS. 13 

THE HORSESHOE FALL.. 

The Horseshoe Fall is at the head of the gorge. From its edges 
the walls of the gorge run northeastward approximately parallel. 
The American Fall is at the side of the gorge, 2,500 feet from its head, 
and is separated from the Horseshoe Fall hy Goat Island. A few 
hundred years ago the two falls were together, the position of the 
united cataract being somewhere in the neighborhood of the present 
American Fall. The subsequent retreat of the Horseshoe Fall has 
had the effect of lengthening the gorge, but the American Fall has 
not in the same time made an alcove in the side of the gorge. With 
reference therefore to the question of the age of the gorge, it is the 
Horseshoe Fall whose rate of recession is important. 

The chief data for the estimation of the rate of recession are the 
maps of 1842 and 1905, the time interval being sixty-three years. 
The outlines from those maps are shown in fig. 4. These data, like 
other statistical data, can be discussed in a variety of ways and made 
to yield widely divergent results — a fact sufficiently illustrated by 
earlier estimates of the rate of recession based on comparisons of the 
map of 1842 with that of 1875, 1886, or 1890. The following para- 
graphs therefore set forth somewhat fully the methods here used, 
with the principal considerations on which they are based. 

In the lengthening of the gorge the river does its principal work 
in that part of the Horseshoe curve w^here the current is deepest. 
The agitation of the plunging water is there so powerful as to roll 
about the fallen blocks of limestone, using them as tools to grind the 
shale, and at the same time breaking them up and eventually wash- 
ing them downstream. The scour maintains a deep hollow beneath 
this part of the fall, a hollow whose depth is greater than the height of 
the fall. (Fig. 1, p. 5.) At the sides- of the channel, especially near 
the right bank, where the sheet of falling water is comparatively 
thin, the fallen blocks are not cleared away, but cumber the base of 
the cliff. (PL X, p. 22.) As the cataract retreats it leaves behind it 
a deep channel, or elongated pool, in which the current is slow. Below 
the cataract the gorge is widened at top by the falling away of its 
banks. When the shale is exposed to the au' it becomes subject to 
frost action, and for a time the limestone ledge above continues to 
be undermined, but a practical limit is reached as soon as the talus 
of fallen material covers the slopes of shale, and thereafter the change 
is exceedingly slow. The real lengthening of the gorge is along 
that portion of the Horseshoe where the sheet of falling water is 
heavy enough to clear away the debris and maintain a deep pool. 
The retreat of the cliff on either side of this portion is secondary, 
and appears to have little or no bearing on the question of the rate 
at which the gorge is growing longer. I have therefore restricted 
attention to the central part of the Horseshoe curve. 



14 



RATE OF RECESSION OF NIAGARA FALLS. 



As the two crest lines compared are irregular in outline, a certain 
confusion arises if the recession of different parts is considered sepa- 
rately. At one place the recession seems to have one direction, at 
another place to have another direction, and various complications 
ensue when attempt is made to combine measurements made in 
different directions. In view of this difficulty it has appeared to 
me both convenient and legitimate to assume some one direction 
as the general direction of recession and at all points measure the 
amount of recession on lines parallel to that direction. From an 
inspection of the crest lines as wholes and in their relation to each 
other I have inferred such a general direction of recession, and 
assuming it to apply to the entire central tract of the Horseshoe, 
have drawn the system of parallel lines seen in fig. 4. There are 

six of these lines, each extending 
from the crest line of 1842 to that 
of 1905. Their interspaces, accord- 
ing to the scale of the map, are 100 
feet wide. The average length of 
these lines represents approxi- 
mately the average recession of the 
cataract in the part where the sheet 
of falling water is heaviest. Their 
lengths are, severally, 430, 292, 260, 
276, 317, and 412 feet, giving an 
average length of 331 feet. This 
distance divided by the number of 
years, 63, gives as the average 
annual recession 5.3 feet. 

A somewhat allied method of 
estimate is concerned with areas. 
Still restricting attention to the central portion of the Horseshoe 
curve, I have drawn a line from A, the point at which the two crest 
lines begin to diverge, to the opposite shore at C, making its direc- 
tion lie at right angles to the general direction of recession. The 
area contained between the two crest lines AZB and AEC, and 
limited downstream by the straight line AC, may be regarded as 
the area removed by the central portion of the fall between 1842 
and 1905. The corresponding width of this part of the gorge in 
1842 was AB, 570 feet; in 1905 AC, 760 feet. The mean of these, 
665 feet, is assumed as the average width for the intervening period. 
The indicated area between the crest lines was found by measurement 
to be 223,000 square feet, and this quantity being divided by 665 feet, 
gives 335 feet as the average recession in a direction at right angles 
to AC. Dividing, as before, by 63, the number of years, I obtain 
again as an estimate of the average annual rate 5.3 feet. 




Fig. 4.— Outlines of Horseshoe Fall in 1842, 1875, 
and 1905, with lines used in computing the 
rate of recession. The line of crosses suggests 
a position of part of the crest in 1827. 



THE HORSESHOE FALL. 



15 



The close coincidence of these two results is accidental, altho a 
general agreement was to be expected because the assumptions under- 
lying the computations are harmonious. As already stated, materi- 
all}^ different results may be obtained with different assumptions. 

Less harmonious results are obtained if the period from 1842 to 
1905 is divided into parts and the parts are separately computed. 
Their discordance has two sources which can not be fully discrim- 
inated. From the nature of the case the rate of recession is not 
uniform. The distance to which the cornice of limestone comes to 
project before it is broken away depends not only on the strength of 
the rock, but on the local arrangement of vertical joints by which it 
is traversed, and also to some extent on the shape of the temporary 
outline of the crest. The fall of rock is therefore irregular and only 
obscurely rhythmic. In a period measured by centuries these irreg- 
ularities would have little influence on the general average, but for 
short periods their influence may be great. A second source of dis- 
crepancy in the results lies in the inaccuracy of the surveys. Even 
where the sheet of water is so thin that the rock is visible thru it 
there is some liability to error, and where the topographer could see 
only the curved and changing surface of the rushing water his observa- 
tions were necessarily somewhat indefinite. Two observers might 
in fact differ by several feet in their estimate of the actual position of 
the rock crest over which the water pours. The only results for 
shorter periods which it seems advantageous to place on record are 
those which use the map of 1875 in connection with the maps of 1842 
and 1905. This approximately halves the whole period of sixty-three 
years, the earlier part being thirty-three years in length and the later 
part thirty years. By applying to these two divisions the methods 
already described for the whole period, and employing the same 
ordinates and the same limiting line, the following results were 
obtained : 



Rates of recession computed for various periods and by different methods. 





Length 
of period. 


Average annual re- 
cession. 


Limiting dates. 


Computed 
by parallel 
ordinates. 


Computed 
by areas. 


1842-1875 


Years. 
33 
30 
63 


Feet. 
4.0 
6.6 
5.3 


Feet. 
4.4 


1875-1905 


5 6 


1842-1905 


5.3 







The indication is that during the thirty years following 1875 the 
lengthening of the gorge went on at a somewhat faster rate than 
during a similar period preceding that date. While it is quite pos- 
sible that the apparent variation in the rate is sufliciently accounted 



16 KATE OF EEOESSION OF T^IAGARA FALLS. 

for by the irregularity of the breaking away of the Hmestone sill, it 
is also possible that the rate has been influenced by a special condition 
affecting the mode of recession. A change in the outline of the fall 
which was mentioned nearly a century ago as diminishing its resem- 
blance to a horseshoe consisted in the development of an angle near 
the head of the curve and on the side toward Goat Island (Z, fig. 4). 
Within the last thirty years the recession has been especially rapid in 
that angle, and there has developed a deep recess or notch. This 
appears to have been occasioned by a local weakness of the limestone , 
presumably its subdivision by a belt of vertical joints. Within the 
notch the mode of recession has been so far modified that the upper 
layers of limestone have been removed before the lower, so that at 
certain stages of the process the water after falling from the crest has 
been caught by a shelf. The configuration can be better understood 
by an examination of PL I (p. 5) , which is based on a photograph 
made in or near the year 1886. Whatever the method of erosion in the 
notch, it appears to be superadded to the general erosion by under- 
mining, and an acceleration of the rate may plausibly be ascribed to it. 

If we regard the general method of recession by the process of 
sapping or undermining as normal, and the influence of joint systems 
as exceptional and temporary, the rate of recession computed for the 
period from 1842 to 1875 should be accepted as normal and the best 
available for use in geologic computations; but this involves the 
assumption that the limestone ledge was not affected in other parts 
of the gorge by belts of weakness similar to the one which has been 
exposed during the last few decades. It seems to me better, on the 
whole, to assume that the limestone eroded between 1842 and 1905 is 
fairly representative, so far as strength is concerned, of all that por- 
tion of the limestone ledge in which the cataract has done its work. 

The maps of 1842 and 1905 represent the earliest and latest surveys, 
but do not include quite all the data worthy of consideration in this 
connection. A sketch by Basil Hall, made with the aid of a camera 
lucida, in 1827, has a claim for accuracy by no means to be disre- 
garded. In the use of the camera lucida the draftsman sees the 
landscape as tho faintly pictured on a sheet of paper, and at the same 
time sees the pencil with which he traces its outlines. Before pho- 
tography this method was the most accurate known for recording the 
outlines of a landscape, and in skilful hands it gives results of notable 
precision. There is much internal evidence that Captain Hall's 
sketches at Niagara were made with care and fidelity, and in view of 
these facts I have thought it worth while to endeavor to combine his 
record with the records by mapping. He tells us that his principal 
sketch of the Horseshoe Fall (PL III) was made from the upper 
veranda of Forsyth's Inn, on the Canadian shore, and the relation of 
the veranda to the inn is shown by a contemporary drawing by Mrs. 



THE AMERICAN FALL. 17 

Trollope.'^ The inn itself long since disappeared, but its position is 
still marked by the ruins of its foundations. Thru the courtesy of 
Mr. James Wilson, superintendent of Victoria Park, who caused the 
necessary scaffolding to be constructed, I was enabled, in. 1895, to 
place a photographic camera within a few^ feet of the position once 
occupied by the camera lucida, and this position has also been located 
on the map of 1905 (PL II, p. 10). A comparison of the two pictures 
made from that position yielded the identification of a common point 
on one of the Three Sister Islands (S, PI. Ill), and with the aid of the 
orientation thus secured it became possible to draw upon the modern 
map the line XY in fig. 4, representing a direction from Captain Hall's 
point of view tangent to the head of the Horseshoe Fall. It will be 
observed that this line passes very near to the head of the curve as 
drawn in the map of 1842, the implication being that at the head of 
the gorge very little recession had occurred in the fifteen years inter- 
vening between 1827 and 1842. I am not sure that this single line, 
obtained by so circuitous a method, should be allowed to influence 
the result based on two topographic surveys, but to whatever extent 
it is given consideration its tendency is to reduce the estimate of the 

annual rate. 

THE AMEKICAIN^ FAIiE. 

The recession of the American Fall is much slower than that of the 
Horseshoe. The sheet of w^ater on its brink is comparatively thin, 
and the force the water acquires in falling is not sufficient to remove 
the larger of the limestone blocks broken from the ledge above. The 
blocks are therefore heaped at the base of the cliff and serve as a 
natural riprap to protect the shale against wear. (See PI. XI, p. 22, 
and fig. 8, p. 23.) Since the Horseshoe Fall parted from the Ameri- 
can, leaving it stranded at the side of the gorge, there has evidently 
been some falling away of the crest of the American Fall, else there 
would be no limestone blocks at its base. But as the talus increases 
in height it becomes more and more protective, and the rate of 
recession should theoretically diminish. 

It has already been observed that the geologist's interest in the 
rate of recession applies primarily to the Horseshoe Fall, because the 
work of that fall makes the gorge longer. If the conditions of erosion 
had been uniform during the whole period of the excavation of the 
gorge the work of the American Fall would have little bearing on its 
time estimates, but the volume of the river has not always been so 
great as at present, and there were two epochs in the history of the 
gorge when the volume was very small. During those epochs the 
discharge of the whole river was probably not much greater than the 
present discharge thru the American channel, so that the conditions 

aTrollopo, Mrs., Domestic manners of the Americans, vol. 2, London, 1832, frontispiece. 
Bull 306—06 2 



18 RATE OF RECESSION OF NIAGARA FALLS. 

affecting erosion were somewhat similar to those illustrated by the 
American Fall. For this reason it is worth while to inquire at what 
rate the American Fall has receded since the first precise observations 
on its position and contour. 

Traditional information as to changes in the American Fall is sum- 
marized by Lyell : ^ 

The sudden descent of huge rocky fragments of the undermined limestone at the Horse- 
shoe Fall, in 1828, and another at the American Fall, in 1818, are said to have shaken the 
adjacent country like an earthquake. According to the statement of our guide in 1841, 
Samuel Hooker, an indentation of about forty feet has been produced in the middle of the 
ledge of limestone at the lesser fall since the year 1815, so that it has begun to assume the 
shape of a crescent, while within the same period the Horseshoe Fall has been altered so as 
less to deserve its name. 

The graphic record begins with two camera lucid a sketches by 
Basil Hall, made in 1827. One was from Goat Island, near the 
southern end of the crest line, the other from a point on the American 
shore near the northern end of the crest line. His view points were so 
near to the fall that he was able to represent details too small to 
appear in the sketch of the Horseshoe Fall. The American Fall was 
also mapped with the same care as the Horseshoe in 1842, 1875, 1886, 
1890, and 1905. Since the time of the daguerreotype the fall has been 
photographed from positions similar to those occupied by Basil Hall, 
and in 1895 I recovered his viewpoints as nearly as practicable for the 
sake of making photographs which might be compared with his 
camera-lucida sketches. To this end I visited the localities with his 
sketches in hand, and endeavored to determine the view points by 
comparing various details of the sketches with the landscape before 
me. His sketches and the photographs are compared in Pis. V-VI and 
VII-VIII. 

Examination of the combined map in PL II (p. 10) shows that the 
outlines recorded in 1875, 1886, 1890, and 1905 run closely together, 
the plotted lines intersecting one another at various points, while the 
line of 1842 coincides for only a part of the distance. A broad 
projection near the northern shore is indicated by the map of 1842 
only, and that map also gives a more advanced position for the 
middle part of the crest line. 

There is good reason to question the accuracy of the map of 1842, 
especially in the vicinity of the northern shore. The area there indi- 
cated outside the line of 1875 and later maps is 1 10 feet broad. As its 
position is close to Prospect Point, which has been a popular view 
point thru the entire period under consideration, the falling away of 
such a body of rock, either gradually or all at once, could not have 
escaped notice, but (so far as my reading goes) current literature, 
including the literature of the guidebooks, is silent in regard to it. In 

a Lyell, Charles, Travels in North America, vol. 1, London, 1845, p. 33. 




r_ 



h • 







2 tD 

- E 

_J < 

^ £ 

o I 

a: ^ 

2 ;r, 



THE AMP:RTrAN FALL. 19 

addition to this negative evidence, there is positive inforinatiou in the 
Basil Hall sketches. Comparing his sketch from Goat Island (PI. V) 
with my photograph made from approximately the same point in 
1895 (PL VI), it will be seen that there is essential correspondence in 
the distant headlands along the river. By means of these headlands 
I was enabled not only to establish a definite relation between the two 
views, but also to correlate the sketch of 1827 with the map of the 
gorge made in 1875, and by the aid of that map with the various 
charts of the crest line. Thru these comparisons it is shown that if 
the crest line in 1827 had had the form indicated by the map of 1842, 
its profile would have the position indicated by the dotted line A in 
PL V, and the cataract would conceal the eastern half of the gorge 
vista. If the great salient did not exist in 1827, it could not have 
existed in 1842. The conclusion appears unavoidable that the map 
of 1842 is wholly erroneous in its delineation of that part of the crest 
line near Prospect Point. 

As the Basil Hall sketches have thus served to discredit a portion 
of the map of 1842, it is in order to inquire whether they afford a sub- 
stitute for the evidence ruled out. Once more using the vista down 
the gorge as the basis of correlation, and appl3"ing measyrement to 
points recognized as identical, I have ascertained that the sketch of 
1827 and the photograph of 1895 give to the extreme salient of the 
American Fall almost identically the same position. At that par- 
ticular point the recession appears to be zero. Nearer than the sali- 
ent, and .appearing about one-fourth inch to the right of it, is a pecul- 
iar configuration of the crest line which seems to be common to the 
two views. In the photograph a dark wedge projects obliquely 
downward and toward the left, interrupting the body of white. In 
the sketch its position is occupied by a sweeping curve, less angular 
than the other lines representing the turn of the water, flaking 
proper allowance for the fact that the water was unusually low in the 
sumjner of 1895, 1 think it quite possible that these features of the two 
pictures represent the same local and peculiar configuration of the rock 
of the crest, and the suggestion they give is that there has been no 
change whatever in the crest line of that portion of the American Fall 
since 1827. 

The earliest good daguerreotype of the American Fall to which I 
have been able to assign a date is reproduced in PL IX. The gentle- 
man who loaned me the daguerreotype appears in the picture as a 
child, and was able by that circumstance to fortify his memory and 
say that the view was taken in 1854 or 1855. Close comparison of 
the daguerreotype with the photograph reproduced in PL VIII, 
shows a large number of identical details ranged along the crest from 
the deepest reentrant to Luna Island, and proves that there was 
practically no recession in that part of the American Fall in the forty 
years from 1855 to 1895. 



20 



RATE OF RECESSION OF NIAGARA FALLS. 




Fig. 5.— Basil Hall's sketch of American Fall 
from Prospect Point, with lines used in trans- 
ferring its directions to map. Compare figs. 6 
and 7 and Pis. VII and VIII. 



In Basil HalFs view from the American shore (PL VII) a number 
of points are sufficiently definite to be used in correlating the sketch 
with the map. Forsyth's Hotel appears on the bluff at the extreme 

right. The western edge of the 
''Horseshoe Fall holds the same posi- 
tion as in 1842. The eastern edge 
of the Horseshoe Fall^ or the right- 
hand profile of Goat Island, serves 
as another identification point, 
altho it has doubtless fallen away 
a few feet. The crest of the Ameri- 
can Fall where it adjoins Goat 
Island and its interruption by Luna 
Island are somewhat indefinite 
objects by reason of the curvature 
of the water profile, but are never- 
theless serviceable, especially as 
their stability is assured by the gen- 
eral agreement of records. The 
nearer profile of the American Fall 
is assumed on the evidence just 
cited to have the position assigned 
it by the maps of 1890 and 1905. 
These points all appear on the map 
(PI. II, p. 10). The approximate 
position of the artist's viewpoint is 
suggested by the foreground, taken 
in connection with various allusions 
in the literature. 

As the geometric method of mak- 
ing comparison between a picture 
and a map may not be familiar to 
all readers of this paper, I venture 
to explain the procedure in this 
case, adding that similar methods 
were employed in other compari- 
sons to which allusion has already 
been made. It is evident that the 
distance of any object in the view, 
^g. 5, to the right or left of a cen- 
tral vertical line depends on the 
horizontal direction of the object from the viewpoint. In order to 
show clearly the relations of the directions of the various objects, 
I drew from them a series of vertical lines by which their posi- 




FiG. 6.— Map of Niagara Falls, with lines drawn 
to various points from the point occupied by 
Basil Hall in making a camera lucida sketch. 
Compare figs. 5 and 7 and PI. VII. A, For- 
syth's hotel; B, western edge of Horseshoe 
Fall; C, profile of Goat Island cliff; D, crest 
of American Fall at Goat Island; E, crest of 
American Fall at Luna Island; F, extreme 
salient on crest of American Fall. 



THE AMERICAN FALL. 



21 



Goat 



K i 



A B 



Rock of Ages 



BELOW 



tions were projected a^^ainst a liorizuntal line near the top of the 
sketch. Lines were also drawn on the map, fig. G, from the assumed 
viewpoint to the corresponding^ objects, and an additional line was 
drawn in the general direction corresponding to the middle of the 
picture. Then at right angles to the last-mentioned line, and at a 
suitable distance ascertained by trial, a line was drawn intersecting 
all the direction lines. The map gives the projection of the various 
points on a horizontal plane; the sketch gives their projection on a 
vertical plane. The line last drawn represents the intersection of 
these two planes of projection. If 
the map and sketch are both accu- 
rate, then the points a, h, c, etc., on 
the map should be separated by 
the same spaces as the points a, h, c, 
etc., at top of the sketch. As a 
result of the trial a very close agree- 
ment was found — as close an agree- 
ment as could be expected in view 
'of the indefiniteness of some of the 
points. Tliis agreement serves to 
verify the determination of the 
viewpoint, and also to support the 
conclusion that the criticism pre- 
viously made of the map of 1842 
is valid. 

Having thus established the rela- 
tion of the sketch to the map, it 
was possible to transfer the direc- 
tions of other points of the sketch 
to the map. Two reentrants and 
one salient of the fall were pro- 
jected upward on the sketch, giv- 
ing the points g, It, and i. These 
were transferred to the line on the 
map representing the intersection 
of projections, and lines were drawn 
from them to the viewpoint. These last-mentioned lines indicate 
on the map the directions of the corresponding features as recorded 
by the sketch of 1827, but do not show their distances from the 
viewpoint. They do not fix on the map the positions of the salient 
and reentrants, but assign certain limits to be observed in any 
attempt to chart the crest line as it was in 1827. They are repre- 
sented on a larger scale in fig. 7. In a general way they indicate 
that there has been a small amount of recession since 1827 in various 
parts of the crest line. Such an inference, however, should not be 




Basil Mall's 
view point 

1827 



Fig. 7.— Plau ol American Fall. A full line 
shows the crest as mapped in 1905; the broken 
line, as mapped in 1842; /, tangent to deepest 
reentrant as sketched ])y Basil Hall in 1827; 
//, tangent to reentrant nearer Prospect Point 
1827; g, tangent to salient l)et\veen two reen- 
trants, 1S27. Compare figs. Sand 6and PI. VII. 



22 RATE OF RECESSION OF NIAGARA FALLS. ^ 

made without qualification, because the indicated amount of recession 
is of the same order of magnitude as the errors of survey and other 
imperfections of the data. 

To give the matter quantitative statement I have tried the experi- 
ment of assuming as correct the map of 1905 and the hmitations 
inferred from the sketches of 1827, and then interpreting other data 
in such way as to afford the greatest plausible recession. A com- 
putation based on these assumptions gives an average total recession 
since 1827 of 19.7 feet and an average annual recession of 0.25 foot. 
This I regard as a maximum estimate. It is highly probable that 
the actual average rate of recession is less than this, and it may be 
much less. The idea that it is much less finds support in the iden- 
tical appearance of one part of the crest in 1855 and 1905 and in the 
apparent identity of another part in 1827 and 1895. 

The matter can be approached in another way. The distance 
thru which the Horseshoe Fall has retreated since it parted from 
the American Fall is about 2,500 feet. Allowing 5 feet per annum as 
the rate of recession, the parting took place about five hundred years 
ago. The condition of the American Fall at the time of separation 
may be inferred in a general way from an examination of the eastern 
part of the Horseshoe Fall at the present time (PI. X). From Goat 
Island to a point about 500 feet westward the water is shallow, corre- 
esponding in average depth to that of the American Fall. Beyond 
that point it is comparatively deep. In the region of deep water the 
recession of the cataract is rapid, and the portion with shallow water 
is being left behind. At the base of that part of the fall where the 
water is shallow the descending stream does not plunge into the pool, 
but strikes a talus of rock fragments. These fragments are in part 
visible, and their existence is elsewhere inferred from the forms given 
to the spray by the reaction. It seems to me legitimate to infer that 
the American Fall at the time of its abandonment by the Horseshoe 
was not so advanced in position as to plunge into standing water, but 
had already retreated far enough to have acquired a talus above the 
level of the pool. At the present time the profile. of the American 
Fall where its volume of water is greatest is approximately as shown 
in &g. 8. The edge of the main river is at S, 220 feet horizontally from 
the crest of the fall at C, the intervening space being occupied by a 
gently sloping talus of large limestone blocks, among which the water 
descends in a lab3rrinth of cascading torrents (PI. XI). _ At the initial 
stage, when the American Fall was first separated, the position of 
its crest was probably at some point (I) between its present position 
and the outer edge of the visible talus. As sketched, I is 160 feet 
from C, and if the total retreat of the American Fall in Rye hundred 
years was 160 feet the average rate of recession was 0.32 foot per 
annum. Allowance should be made for difference in rate dependent 




CO -i^ 



THE MAP OF 1842. 



23 



on the gradual encroachment of the protective talus upon the 
exposed cUff of shale, so that during the earlier part of the period the 
retreat was more rapid than during the later part. The indication, 
therefore, is that the present rate of recession is considerably less 
than 0.32 foot per annum, a result in harmony with that based on the 
maps and sketches. 




Fig. 8.— Profile and section of American Fall near its middle part. Compare fig. 1, also PI. XI. 

The assumptions underlying each of the estimates are factors of 
such importance that neither result can claim a high measure of pre- 
cision. It appears to be safe to say that the present average rate of 
recession of the American Fall can not be so great as 0.5 foot per 
annum, and is probably as small as 0.2 foot per annum, or about one 
twenty-fifth of the rate of recession of the Horseshoe Fall. 

THE MAP OF 1842. 

The detection of an important error in the outline of the American 
Fall as mapped in 1842 tends naturally to bring in question all other 
results of the survey of that year. Inasmuch as the outline of the 
Horseshoe Fall as determined in 1842 is one of the most important 
data used in the computation of the rate of recession, it has been 
subjected to critical examination and all practicable checks have 
been applied. 

The framework of the survey includes two stations or '' trigono- 
metrical points" on the American shore, three on Goat Island, and 
three on the Canadian shore. Those on Goat Island were connected, 
each with the next, by traverse lines, distances being measured by 
the surveyor's chain and courses observed by the surveyor's com- 
pass; so also were the two on the American shore. All other connec- 
tions were made by compass bearings. From the 7 stations thus 
established the positions of 29 points on the crest lines were deter- 
mined by intersections of compass bearings. In all the later surveys 
the bearings were presumably made with the engineer's transit or the 
plane-table alidade, instruments susceptible of much higher precision 
than the surveyor's compass; but in view of the shortness of the 



24 RATE OF EECESSION OF NIAGARA FALLS. 

distances the relative weakness of the surveyor's compass does not 
seem to me an important factor. 

The stations and other points are indicated on the pubhshed map, 
and there is a ^Hable of observations." With the aid of these data 
positions of points on the crest Hnes were replotted as a check on the 
accuracy of the compilation and engraving of the map. This work 
revealed three errors in the bearings as published, probably to be 
ascribed to copying or printing and not affecting the map. It indi- 
cated also that the points of the crest lines determined by intersection 
are not all accurately placed on the map, the errors amounting usually 
to a few feet, but not affecting the computed rate of recession. 

Each of the crest-line points was originally located, as a rule, by the 
intersection of two bearings, but there are four points to which three 
bearings were taken. In the replotting of these points the check 
afforded by the third bearing was found to give a satisfactory result. 
The points which have the advantage of this check are all on the east 
side of the Horseshoe curve, and include the point at the angle of the 
Horseshoe in the position where the notch subsequently developed 
(Z in fig. 4, p. 14). For the remainder, or western part, of the 
Horseshoe curve there is no similar check, and the three located 
points of the crest line are so far apart as to give little mutual sup- 
port. So far as the published data are concerned, these have no 
higher intrinsic authority than the two points on the American Fall 
which have been discredited by independent evidence. 

The record of the Horseshoe Fall which stands nearest in time to 
the map of 1842 is Basil HalFs sketch from the Forsyth Hotel (PL 
III, p. 15), the interval being fifteen years. The general form of the 
crest line is the same in map and sketch, and the tangent based on 
the sketch is so related to the mapped crest line (fig. 4, p. 14) as to 
indicate some recession between the dates of the sketch and the map, 
but the amount of recession is less than would be expected. 

The factors bearing on the estimate of the rate of recession are not 
so related that rigid mathematical methods can be applied to their 
discussion. The conflict of data and the mutual support of data can 
be weighed only by nonmathematical methods, and the result of their 
study is an opinion rather than a decision. The general tenor of the 
evidence, including the five surveys and the Basil Hall sketch, leaves 
no question that the annual rate of recession has been about 4 or 5 
feet. If full authority be ascribed to the map of 1842, the estimated 
annual rate of recession is 5.3 feet. If full authority be ascribed to 
the tangent line based on the sketch of 1827, the estimated rate is 
about 1 foot less. It is my opinion that the map affords the better 
record. Giving to it the greater weight and to the tangent a smaller 
weight, I think the best practicable estimate of the rate is between 5.3 
and 4,2 feet, but nearer to the former; and I select 5 feet partly 



SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION. 25 

because a statement in even feet avoids the implication of high pre- 
cision which might be suggested by a decimal. As an estimate of the 
average rate of recession during the period of definite observation, I 
think this can not be in error more than 1 foot. 

SUMMAKY AKT> COlS^CIiUSIOlS^. 

The data for computing the rate of recession of Niagara Falls 
include surveys of the crest line made in 1842, 1875, 1886, 1890, and 
and 1905, and camera-lucida sketches made in 1827. During the 
period covered by these data the local conditions affecting the rate of 
recession have. not differed to an important extent from the natural 
conditions. The present and prospective diversions of water for eco- 
nomic uses interfere w^ith the course of nature and may be expected to 
modify the rate of recession. The natural rate of recession of the 
Horseshoe Fall is desired by geologists in connection with estimates of 
the age of the river. The geologic bearing of a rate modified by 
human agency is less direct. The rate of recession of the American 
Fall is of interest to geologists because somewhat representative of 
the river's activity in gorge making when the volume of water was 
much less. 

The rate of recession of the Horseshoe Fall, or the rate of lengthen- 
ing of the Niagara gorge, during the sixty-three years from 1842 to 
1905 is found to be 5 feet per annum, with an uncertainty of 1 foot. 
For the thirty- three years from 1842 to 1875 the rate was apparently 
slower than for the thirty years from 1875 to 1905. The rate of reces- 
sion of the American Fall during the seventy-eight years from 1827 to 
1905 was less than 3 inches per annum. 

The time consumed in the recession of the falls from the escarpment 
at Lewiston to their present position, or the age of the river, is not here 
estimated. It can not properly be computed without taking account 
of all conditions, local and temporary, affecting the rate of recession, 
and some of those conditions have varied greatly from point to point 
and from time to time. 



REPORT OF SURVEY OF CREST LINE OF NIAGARA FALLS. 



By W. Carvel Hall. 



In obedience to instructions from Mr. H. M. Wilson, geographer 
of the United States Geological Survey, issued in consequence of a 
plan of cooperation with Mr. Henry A. Van Alstyne, State engineer 
of New York, a survey of the crest line of Niagara Falls was made 
by me in June, 1905. The determination of the present crest line 
of the falls was desired in order that, by comparison with maps of 
earlier dates, the changes could be determined and the rate of reces- 
sion computed. 

Surveys of the falls of which we have record have been -made as 
follows: In 1842, under the direction of Prof. James Hall, State geol- 
ogist of New York; ^ in 1875, by the United States Lake Survey, pub- 
lished in the form of a chart on the scale of 1:2,500;^ in 1886, by 
Prof. R. S. Woodward, then chief geographer of the United States 
Geological Survey;^ and-^ in 1890, by Mr. A. S. Kibbe, assistant 
engineer, under the direction of Mr. John Bogart, State engineer of 
New York.^ A survey was also made in 1904 by the Electrical 
Development Company and Prof. J. W. Spencer, but the map is not 
yet published. 

The great majority of the monuments recovered or established by 
Mr. Kibbe in his survey of 1890 were found to be in good state of 
preservation, but a few, one unfortunately an important one, have 
disappeared. Appended hereto are tables giving descriptions of the 
various monuments recovered or used, together with their coordi- 
nates and the distances between them. In addition to these, there 
were used in the work temporary stations at Prospect Point, Henne- 
pin View, Stedman Bluff, Rock of Ages, center of south chord of the 
steel arch bridge, and the cupola of Table Rock House. 

In the survey of 1842 the relations of a few points were fixt by 
traversing with compass and chain, and the remainder of the work 
was done by compass, the positions of points on the crest being 
determined by intersection. In the surveys of 1875, 1886, and 1890 

a See Nat. Hist, of New York, pt. 4, Geology, 1843, pp. 402-404. 

6 Listed by the Lake Survey as Chart No. 48. 

c Results published in Seventh Ann. Rejjt. Comrs. of State Reservation at Niagara, Albany, 1891. 

d Idem. 

26 



SURVEY OF CREST LINE IN 1905. 27 

directions were observed by transit instead of compass. In the 1904 
work an ingenious method was used, suggested, it is thought, by 
Mr. Goodwin, of the Electrical Development Compan3^ He carefully 
measured the elevation of the crest of the falls and also of certain 
triangulation points on the Canadian l)lufr. Then, observing at the 
same instant for direction and for the amount of. the ''dip-angle," 
he computed the distance from point of observation to the crest at 
various places. 

Any of these methods seems quite suitable for the determination 
of the crest at well-marked pomts, but the upper curve of the Horse- 
shoe Falls has no well-marked pomts for observation, besides being 
masked by spray, and the methods adopted require considerable 
computation and use mainly descriptive matter for identifying even 
the most important features. As stated by Professor Woodward in 
his report already referred to^ — 

The points on the crests of the Falls determined by the 1886 survey varied considerably 
in respect to clearness of definition and ease and precision of fixture. Some of them were 
well defined exposures of bare rock; some were less well-defined portions of rock seen 
through the curved sheet of falling water; some were indentations in such sheets, well 
defined from any point of view but presenting ditterent aspects from different points of 
view; and some were ephemeral sprays whose identification from dift'erent points of view 
was a matter of difficulty. * * * i]^q probable error on the crest line does not on the 
average exceed ±1-5 feet. A much greater probable error must be assigned, however, to 
the upper part of the Horseshoe Falls. 

Mr. Kibbe in his 1890 report states that ''for favorable locations 
on the crest of the Falls the probable error is ±1-0 foot, while along 
the deep-water portion of the Horseshoe Falls it may be somewhat 
greater." 

In view of these facts, a different method was adopted in making 
the present survey, namely: T. P. No. 1 (at Prospect Point) and 
"Terrapin" (at Terrapin rocks) were accepted from Mr. Kibbe's 
survey as initial points, and were plotted to a scale ol 1 inch = 200 
feet on a plane-table sheet. From these as a base all existing trian- 
gulation points were relocated, and with some newly selected points 
formed the basis of the survey. Along the American Falls and at 
the ends of the Horseshoe Falls, by means of photographs and careful 
descriptions, numerous features were recognized, intersected, and 
plotted, and the details of the map were continuously compared with 
the corresponding natural features and their positions checked. 
Thus an}^ discrepancy between earlier surveys and the present work 
were at once seen and examined and were thoroly tested and proved 
before the work was accepted, the majority of locations being 
determined from six to eight stations. For the upper portion of 
the Horseshoe Falls a 30-inch searchlight of very high candlepower, 
partially masked, was used to mark on the crest of the falls suc- 
cessive small brilliant spots of light, which were simultaneously 



28 SURVEY OF CREST LINE OF NIAGARA FALLS. 

located by four transits and which it is believed should result in an 
accurate demarcation of that part of the crest. 

An anomalous condition of affairs appears to be disclosed by the 
survey, similar to that noted in earlier work, viz, that certain points 
on the crest line have advanced instead of receded. This has here- 
tofore been explained as due to discrepancies in the field work or 
inaccuracies in the delineation of the crest line between determined 
points. Doubtless these explanations hold good in all the surveys, 
past as well as present, but there is one cause of advancement and 
ultimate recession which does not appear to have been commented 
on, and which, after close questioning of numerous old residents and 
careful examination of the situation, I think is a very active element. 
It might here be emphasized that by the plane-table method used 
any discrepancy occurring was at once noticed and the new position 
most carefully checked. 

In addition to the erosion caused by the spray and the chemical 
action of the water on the underlying shales, there is a well-marked 
change in the crest line, due to the forcing off of large blocks of rock 
from the crest itself. 

Approximately 20 feet below the upper level there is a water- 
bearing seam in the limestone, particularly well marked at Goat 
Island and above the Ontario Power Company's new power house. 
I am informed that in the winter immense icicles form from this seam 
at various points where it is not noticeable in summer, owing to the 
quick evaporation. At about this same elevation there are at pres- 
ent on the American Falls four secondary cascades, or, as termed by 
the late Thomas V. Welch, superintendent of the State reservation, 
'^bustles." In my judgment these can only have been caused by 
the slipping off of a mass of rock from the crest, sliding to some 
extent on the water-bearing seam and gradually prest out by the 
force of the water and ice in slowly widening cracks upstream till, 
overbalancing, they fall, leaving the ^^ bustles.'' The present survey, 
I believe, has caught some of these masses as they are being forced 
out. 

This theory was discust with a number of the best-informed 
inhabitants, and while they agreed that large blocks did occasion- 
ally fall from the crest, instancing several examples, they claimed 
that in each case the fall was a sudden one, unaccompanied by any 
previous pushing forward of the mass. This forward motion, how- 
ever, must be a very slow one, and would not be noticed, while the 
final fall of the rock would be assumed to be the beginning and end 
of the action. 

The accompanying plan of the survey (PL II, p. 10) shows the 
existing crest line by a solid line broken only where the flow of water 
is interrupted by overhanging rocks, and shows the earlier surveys by 



TABLES. 29 

means of broken lines. Only those triangulation points which are 
permanently marked are indicated. The shore lines and the various 
permanent buildings are a compilation of all the records. 

In the last few years the brink of the falls has been curtailed on 
the Canadian side by a wall 495 feet long, completely shutting off 
the water for that distance, and thereby reducing the length of the 
Horseshoe Falls by about one-sixth. In recent years five power 
companies have spent large sums of money to divert a portion of the 
water now flowing over the falls to their power houses, the total 
power at present chartered being about one-fifth of all available. 

I desire to acknowledge my indebtedness for material assistance 
rendered in the work to Mr. Edward H. Perry, superintendent of the 
State reservation at Niagara; to Mr. James Wilson, superintendent 
of the Queen Victoria Niagara Falls Park; to Mr. B. F. R. Paine, 
general manager of the Ontario Power Company, and to Mr. J. W. 
Kellogg, manager of the marine sales department of the General 
Electric Company. 

TABLES. 

The first of the following tables includes artificial monuments and 
other permanent reference points connected with the triangulations 
of the surveys. The designation, description, and location of each 
are given, together with its coordinates as referred to Topographic 
Point No. 1 of the survey of 1842. The coordinates, w^th the excep- 
tion of Semaphore, are taken from Mr. Kibbe's table in the Seventh 
Annual Report of the Commissioners of the State Reservation at 
Niagara, pages 105 to 107. 



30 SURVEY OF CREST LINE OB^ NIAGARA FALLS. 

List of permanent reference points. 



Designation. 



T. P. No. 1. 



T. P. No. 



Terrapin. 



Loretto . 



K 

L 

Semaphore 

O 



Description. 



1842, 1890, 1905. Stone monument 5 inches 
square on Prospect Point 1 inch below sod, 
138 feet from southwest corner stone house 
at head of incline, 145 feet from northwest 
corner of same, and 15 feet from iron lamp- 
post. 

1890, 1905. Stone monument 5 inches square, 
1 foot below surface, with 6-inch terra-cotta 
tile over it, set on bluff in extreme edge of 
gravel walk at Porters Bluff, just east of 
path to the Terrapin Rocks. 

1842, 1890, 1905. Stone monument 5 inches 
square, in path following top of bluff along 
southern shore of Goat Island. This mon- 
ument projects about 7 inches and is marked 
"6" on side. 

1886, 1890, 1905. Brass bolt 1 inch in diameter 
set in prominent square rock about 4 feet 
high, word "Terrapin" cut in top of rock 
at end of wooden walk to platform where 
Terrapin Tower for:nerly stood. Believed 
to coincide very nearly with point used in 
1875. 
' 1886, 1890, 1905. Cross surmounting cupola of 
Loretto Convent, also brass screw one-half 
inch in diameter in the deck of cupola direct- 
ly under center of cross. 

1890, 1905. Brass bolt 1 inch in diameter near 
superintendent's office, Canadian side, set 
in the rock 1 foot under surface of lawn and 
surrounded by 4-inch terra-cotta tile, 34.9 
feet from southwest corner main building 
and 18.3 feet from southeast corner same. 

1890, 1905. Brass bolt 1 inch in diameter set 
in rock between pipe railing and brink, in 
Canadian reservation, .30.2 feet from north- 
east corner of railing at "Ramblers Rest." 

1890, 1905. Stone monument 6 inches square 
between pipe railing and brink, m Canadian 
reservation, 25.4 feet northerly from pipe of 
drinking fountain south of'RamblersRest.'' 

1890, 1905. Stone monument inches square, 
between pipe railing and brink, in Canadian 
reservation, a little south of "Inspiration 
Point." 

1890, 1905. Stone monument 6 inches square, 
marked "I" on side, set in prominent pro- 
jecting point at top of bluff on Canadian side 
about 317 feet southeasterly from south ga- 
ble of Ontario power house, now in course 
of construction (June, 1905). 

1890. Stone monument like last, about 400 
feet southwardly along bluff. 

1890. Stone monument like last, about 490 
feet southwardly along bluff. 

Center of 8-inch iron pipe sunk several feet in 
the ground on west bank railway cut about 
opposite Clarke Springs. 

1890. Stone monument 6 inches square set 
into slope at Stedmans Bluff; covered in 
1900 by dry stone waU; references as on line 
between T. P. No. 1 and a nail in root of 
large leaning oak tree 21.41 feet southwest 
and 49.7 feet from nail in root of basswood 
tree. 



Coordinates. 



Feet. Feet. 

0. 0. 



S. 1,929.1 W. 1,206.5 



S. 2, 370. 7 W. 990. 4 



2,044.2 W. 1,465.5 



5.3,671.4 W. 3,623.4 



N. 1,021.9 W. 1,462.1 



N. 788. 5 W. 1, 451. 



N. 193.9 W. 1,751.6 



S. 458. 2 W. 2, 090. 4 



1,602.5 W. 2,773.2 



S. 1, 934. 7 W. 2, 996. 2 
S. 2,338.0 W. 3,261.3 
S. 2, 496. 6 W. 3, 507. 2 



S. 



1 W. 597. 1 



TABLES. 



31 



d 


li 












03 01 

iii 







d 


h4 


1 






■"fO 













:d 




W 


II 


coo 














d 






I. 

Feet. 
3,202.9 












d 








Q 


o 




i 


05 

s 


QOO 

r 


- 






d 


00 

II 












000 




Oi 


m 


1! 











d 














^ 


00 

11 










d 




1 










6 

3 


1 




TP-00 










CO 




S 


eOrPCOO w 
55 ^'5 <M lO it 






t- ^5 -0 -^ 




6 


OiOOCO-* 








r-HfO 






S 


1 






















6 

Ah' 





oeo 


OOfHCOOC- 
r-Tr-TrHCMCO 




s 

'co 


CO 




d 
12; 


s 


•-0 

6 


c 
■5 


3 


z 


CO 





a 




Ui 


hj 


d 





CLASSIFICATION OF THE PUBLICATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL 

SURVEY. 

[Bulletin No. 30(5.] ' 

The publications of the United States Geological Survey consist of (1) Annual 
Reports, (2) Monographs, (3) Professional Papers, (4) Bulletins, (5) Mineral 
Resources, (6) Water-Supply and Irrigation Papers, (7) Topographic Atlas of United 
States — folios and separate sheets thereof, (8) Geologic Atlas of United States — 
folios thereof. The classes numbered 2, 7, and 8 are sold at cost of publication; the 
others are distributed free. A circular giving complete lists can be had on application. 

Most of the above publications can be obtained or consulted in the following ways: 

1. A limited number are delivered to the Director of the Survey, from whom they 
can be obtained, free of charge (except classes 2, 7, and 8), on application. 

2. A certain number are delivered to Senators and Representatives in Congress 
for distribution. 

3. Other copies are deposited with the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, 
D. C, from whom they can be had at prices slightly above cost. I 

4. Copies of all Government publications are furnished to the principal public 
libraries in the large cities thruout the United States, where they can be consulted 
by those interested. 

The Professional I*apers, Bulletins, and Water-Supply Papers treat of a variety of 
subjects, and the total number issued is large. They have therefore been classified 
into the following series: A, Economic geology; B, Descriptive geology ; C, System- 
atic geology and paleontology; D, Petrography and mineralogy; E, Chemistry and 
physics; F, Geography; G, Miscellaneous; H, Forestry; I, Irrigation; J, Water stor- 
age; K, Pumping water; L, Quality of water; M, General hydrographic investiga- 
tions; N, Water power; 0, Underground waters; P, Hydrographic progress reports. 
This paper is the one hundred and ninth in Series B, and the fifty-fourth in Series F, 
the complete lists of which follow (PP= Professional Paper; B=Bulletin; WS= 
Water-Supply Paper). 

SERIES B, DESCRIPTIVE GEOLOGY. 

B 23. Obsen-ations on the junction between the Eastern sandstone and the Keweenaw series on 

Keweenaw Point, Lake Superior, by R. D. Irving and T. C. Chamberlin. 1885. 124 pp., 17 

pis. (Out of stock.) 
B 33. Notes on geology of northern California, by J. S. Diller. 1886. 23 pp. (Out of stock.) 
B 39. The upper beaches and deltas of Glacial Lake Agassiz, by Warren Upham< 1887. 84 pp., 1 j)). 

(Out-of stock.) 
B 40. Changes in river courses in Washington Territory due to glaciation, by Bailey Willis. 1887. 10 

pp., 4 pis. (Out of stock.) 
B 45. The present condition of knowledge of the geology of Texas, by R. T. Hill. 1887. 94 pp. (Out 

of stock.) 
B 53. The geology of Nantucket, by N. S. Shaler. 1889. 55 pp., 10 pis. (Out of stock.) 
B 57. A geological reconnaissance in southwestern Kansas, by Robert Hay. 1890. 49 pp., 2 pis. 
B 58. The glacial boundary in western Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois, by G. F. 

Wright, Avith introduction by T. C. Chamberlin. 1890. 112 pp., 8 pis. (Out of stock.) 
B 67. The relations of the traps of the Newark system in the New Jersey region, by N. H. Darton. 

1890. 82 pp. (Out of stock.) 
B 104. Glaciation of the Yellowstone Valley north of the Park, by W. H. Weed. 1893. 41 pp., 4 pis. 
B 108. A geological reconnaissance in central Washington, by I. C. Russell. 1893. lOS pp., 12 pis. 

(Out of stock.) 

Bull. 306—00 3 ' I 



II SERIES LIST. 

B 119. A geological reconnaissance in northwest Wyoming, by G. H. Eldridge. 1894. 72 pp., 4 pis. 
B 137. The geology of the Fort Riley Military Reservation and vicinity, Kansas, by Robert Hay. 1896. 

35 pp., 8 pis. 
B 144. The moraines of the Missouri Coteau and their attendant deposits, by J. E. Todd. 1896. 71 

pp., 21 pis. 
B 158. The moraines of southeastern South Dakota and their attendant deposits, by J. E. Todd. 1899. 

171 pp., 27 pis. 
B 159. The geology of eastern Berkshire County, Massachusetts, by B. K. Emerson. 1899. 139 pp., 

9 pis. 
B 165. Contributions to the geology of Maine, by H. S. Williams and H. E. Gregory. 1900. 212 pp., 

14 pis. 
WS 70. Geology and water resources of the Patrick and Goshen Hole quadrangles in eastern Wyoming 

and western Nebraska, by G. I. Adams. 1902. 50 pp., 11 pis. 
B 199. Geology and water resources of the Snake River Plains of Idaho, by I. C. Russell. 1902. 192 pp., 

25 pis. 
PPl. Preliminary report on the Ketchikan mining district, Alaska, with an introductory sketch of 

the geology of southeastern Alaska, by A. H. Brooks. 1902. 120 pp., 2 pis. 
PP 2. Reconnaissance of the northwestern portion of Seward Peninsula, Alaska, by A. J. Collier.- 1902. 

70 pp., 11 pis. 
PP 3. Geology and petrography of Crater Lake National Park, by J. S. Diller and H. B. Patton. 1902. 

167 pp., 19 pis. 
PP 10. Reconnaissance from Fort Hamlin to Kotzebue Sound, Alaska, by way of Dall, Kanuti, Allen, 

and Kowak rivers, by W. C. Mendenhall. 1902. 68 pp., 10 pis. 
PP 11. Clays of the United States east of the Mississippi River, by Heinrich Ries. 1903. 298 pp., 9 pis. 
PP 12. Geology of the Globe copper district, Arizona, by F. L. Ransome. 1903. 168 pp., 27 pis. 
PP 13. Drainage modifications in southeastern Ohio and adjacent parts of West Virginia and Ken- 
tucky, by W. G. Tight. 1903. Ill pp., 17 pis. (Out of stock.) 
B 208. Descriptive geology of Nevada south of the fortieth parallel and adjacent portions of Califor- 
nia, by J. E. Spurr. 1903. 229 pp., 8 pis. 
B 209. Geology of Ascutney Mountain, Vermont, by R. A. Daly. 1903. 122 pp., 7 pis. 
WS 78. Preliminary report on artesian basins in southwestern Idaho and southeastern Oregon, by 

I. C. Russell. 1903. 51 pp., 2 pis. 
PP 15. Mineral resources of the Mount Wrangell district, Alaska, by W. C. Mendenhall and F. C. 

Schrader. 1903. 71pp., 10 pis. 
PP 17. Preliminary report on the geology and water resources of Nebraska west of the one hundred 

and third meridian, by N. H. Darton. 1903. 69 pp., 43 pis. 
B 217. Notes on the geology of southwestern Idaho and southeastern Oregon, by I. C. Russell. 1903. 

83 pp., 18 pis. 
B 219. The ore deposits of Tonopah, Nevada (preliminary report) , by J. E. Spurr. 1903. 31 pp., 1 pi. 
PP 20. A reconnaissance in northern Alaska in 1901, by F. C. Schrader. 1904. 139 pp., 16 pis. 
PP 21. The geology and ore deposits of the Bisbee quadrangle, Arizona, by F. L. Ransome. 1904. 168 

pp., 29 pis. 
WS 90. Geology and water resources of part of the lower James River Valley, South Dakota, by J. E. 

Todd and CM. Hall. 1904. 47 pp., 23 pis. 
PP 25. The copper deposits of the Encampment district, Wyoming, by A. C. Spencer. 1904. 107 pp., 

2 pis. 
PP 26. Economic resources of the northern Black Hills, by J. D. Irving, with contributions by S. F. 

Emmons and T. A. Jaggar, jr. 1904. 222 pp., 20 pis. 
PP 27. A geological reconnaissance across the Bitterroot Range and Clearwater Mountains in Mon- 
tana and Idaho, by Waldemar Lindgren. 1904. 122 pp., 15 pis. 
PP 31. Preliminary report on the geology of the Arbuckle and Wichita mountains in Indian Territory 

and Oklahoma, by J. A. TafE, with an appendix on reported ore deposits in the Wichita 

Mountains, by H. F. Bain. 1904. 97 pp., 8 pis. 
B 235. A geological reconnaissance across the Cascade Range near the forty-ninth parallel, by G. O. 

Smith and F. C. Calkins. 1904. 103 pp., 4 pis. 
B 236. The Porcupine placer district, Alaska, by C. W. Wright. 1904. 35 pp., 10 pis. 
B 237. Igneous rocks of the Highwood Mountains, Montana, by L. V. Pirsson. 1904. 208 pp., 7 pis. 
B 238. Economic geology of the lola quadrangle, Kansas, by G. I. Adams, Erasmuth Haworth, and 

W. R. Crane. 1904. 83 pp., 1 pi. 
PP 32. Geology and underground water resources of the central Great Plains, by N. H. Darton. 1905. 

433 pp., 72 pis. 
WS 110. Contributions to hydrology of eastern United States, 1904; M. L. Fuller, geologist in charge. 

1905. 211 pp., 5 pis. 
B 242. Geology of the Hudson Valley between the Hoosic and the Kinderhook, by T. Nelson Dale. 

1904. 63 pp., 3 pis. 
PP 34. The Delavan lobe of the Lake Michigan glacier of the Wisconsin stage of glaciation and 

associated phenomena, by W. C. Alden. 1904. 106 pp., 15 pis. 



SERTE8 LIST. Ill 

PP 35. Geology of the Perry Basin in soiitheastuni Maine, by (J. O. Smitli jukI David White. 1905. 

107 pp., f) pis, 
B 243. Cement materials and industry of the United States, by E. C. Eckel. 1905. 395 pp., 15 pis. 
B 246. Zinc and lead deposits of northeastern Illinois, by H. F. Bain. 1904. 56 pp., 5 pis. 
B 247. The Fairhaven gold placers of Seward Peninsula, Alaska, by F. H. Moffit. 1905. 85 pp., U jds. 
B 249. Limestones of .southwestern Pennsylvania, by F. G. Clapp. 1905. 52 pp., 7 pis. 
B 250. The petroleum fields of the Pacific coast of Alaska, with an account of tlie Bering Kivcr coal 

deposit, by G. C. Martin. 1905. 65 pp., 7 pis. 
B251. The gold placers of the Fortymile, Birch Creek, and P'airbanks regions, Alaska, by L. M, 

Prindle. 1905. 16 pp., 16 pis. 
WS 118. Geology and water resources of a portion of east-(!entral Washington, by F. C. Calkins. 1905. 

96 pp., 4 pis. 
B 252. Preliminary report on the geology and water resources of central Oregon, by I. C. Rus.seli. 

1905. 138 pp., 21 i)ls. 
PP 36. The lead, zinc, and fluorspar deposits of western Kentu<,'ky, by E. O. ririch and W. S. Tangier 

Smith. 1905. 218 pp., 15 pis. 
PP 38. Economic geology of the Bingham mining district of Utah, by J. M. Boutwell, with a chapter 

on areal geology,by Arthur Keith, and an introduction on general geology, by S. F.Emmons. 

1905. 413 pp., 49 pis. 
PP 41. The geology of the central Copper River region, Alaska, by W. C. Mendenhall. 1905. 133 pp., 

20 pis, 
B 254. Report of progress in the geological resurvey of the Cripple Creek district, Colorado, by 

Waldemar Lindgrca and F. L. Ransome. 1904. 36 pp. 
B 255. The fluorspar deposits of .southern Illinois, by H. Foster Bain. 1905. 75 pp., 6 pis. 
B 256. Mineral resources of the Elders Ridge quadrangle, Pennsylvania, by R. W. Stone. 1905, 

85 pp., 12 pis. 
B 257. Geology and Paleontology of the Judith River beds, by T. W. Stanton and J. B. Hatcher, with 

a chapter on the fossil plants, by F. H. Knowlton. 1905. 174 pp., 19 pis. 
PP 42. Geology of the Tonopali mining district, Nevada, by J. E. Spurr. 1905. 295 pp., 24 pis. 
WS 123. Geology and underground water conditions of the Jornada del Muerto, New Mexico, by 

C. R. Keyes. 1905. 42 pp., 9 pis. 
WS 136. Underground waters of Salt River Valley, Arizona, by W. T. Lee. 1905. 194 pp., 24 pis. 
PP 43. The copper deposits of Clifton-Morenci, Arizona, by Waldemar Lindgren. 1905. 375 pp. ,25 pis. 
B 265. Geology of the Boulder district, Colorado, by N. M. Fenneman. 1905. 101 pp., 5 pis. 
B 267. The copper deposits of Missouri, by H. F. Bain and E. O. Ulrich. 1905. 52 pp., 1 pi. 
PP 44. Underground water resources of Long Island, New York, by A. C. Veatch, and others. 1905. 

394 pp., 34 pis. 
WS 148. Geology and water resources of Oklahoma, by C. N. Gould. 1905. 178 pp., 22 pis. 
B 270. The configuration of the rock floor of Greater New York, by W. H. Hobbs. 1905. 96 pp., 5 pis. 
B 272. Taconic physiography, by T. JM. Dale. 1905. 52 pp., 14 pis. 
PP 45. The geography and geology of Alaska, a summary of existing knowledge, by A. H. Brooks, 

with a section on climate, by Cleveland Abbe, jr., and a topographic map and description 

thereof, l>y R. M. Goode. 1905. 327 pp., 34 pis. 
B 273. Thedrumlins of .southeastern Wisconsin (preliminary paper), by W. (". Alden. 1905. 46 pp., 

9 pis. 
PP 46. Geology a'ld underground water resources of northern Louisiana and southern Arkansas, by 

A. C. Veatch. 1906. 422 pp., 51 pis. 
PP 49. Geology and mineral resources of part of the Cumberland Gap coal field, Kentucky, by G. H. 

Ashley and L. C. Glenn, in cooperation with the State Geological Department of Kentucky, 

C. J. Norwood, curator. 1906. 239 pp., 40 pis. 
PP 50. The Montana lobe of the Keewatin ice sheet, by F. H. H. Calhoun. 1906. 62 pp., 7 pis. 
B 277. Mineral resources of Kenai Peninsula, Alaska: Gold fields of the Turnagain Arm region, by 

F. H. Moffit; and the coal fields of the Kachemak Bay region, by R. W. Stone. 1906. 80 pp., 

18 pis. (Out of stock.) 
WS 151. The geology and water resources of the eastern portion of the Paniiandle of Texas, l)y (;. N. 

Gould. 1906. 64 pp., 15 pis. 
B 278. Geology and coal resources of the Cape Lisburne region, .\laska, by A. J. Collier. 19l)t>. 54 

pp., 9 pis. 
.H 279. Mineral resources of the Kittanning and Rural Valley quadrangles. Pennsylvania, by (Miarles 

Butl.^. 1906. 19Spp., 11 pis. 
B 2.S0. The Rampart gold placer region, .\laska, by L. M. Prindle and F. L. Hess. 1906. 54 pp., 7 pis. 
B 2S2. Oil fields of the Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coastal Plain, by N. M. Fenneman. 1906. 146 pp.. 11 pis, 
WS 157. Underground water in the vallej's of Utah Lake and Jonlan River, Utah, by G. B Richard- 
son. 1906. 81 pp., 9 pis. 
I'P 51. Geology of llie Bighorn Mountains, by N. H. Darton. 1906. 129 pp., 47 pis. 
WS 158. Preliminary report on the geology and underground waters of the Roswell arti'sian area, 
New Mexico, by C. A. Fisher. 1906. 29 pp., 9 pis. 



IV SERIES LIST. 

PP 52. Geology and underground waters of the Arkansas Valley in eastern Colorado, by N. H. 

Darton. 1906. 90 pp., 28 pis. 
WS 159. Summary of underground-water resources of Mississippi, by A. F. Crider and L. C. Johnson. 

1906. 86 pp., 6 pis. 
PP 53. Geology and water resources of the Bighorn basin, Wyoming, by Cassius A. Fisher. 1906. 

72 pp., 16 pis. 
B 283. Geology and mineral resources of Mississippi, by A. F. Crider. 1906. 99 pp., 4 pis." 
B 286. Economic geology of the Beaver quadrangle, Pennsylvania (southern Beaver and northwestern 

Allegheny counties), by L. H. Woolsey. 1906. 132 pp., 8 pis. 
B 287. The Juneau gold belt, Alaska, by A. C. Spencer, and a reconnaissance of Admiralty Island, 

Alaska, by C. W. Wright. 1906. 161 pp., 37 pis. 
PP 54. The geology and gold deposits of the Cripple Creek district, Colorado, by W. Lindgren and 

F. L. Ransome. 1906. — pp., 29 pis. 
PP 55. Ore deposits of the Silver Peak quadrangle, Nevada, by J. E. Spurr. 1906. 174 pp., 24 pis. 
B.289. A reconnaissance of the Matanuska coal field, Alaska, in 1905, by G. C. Martin. 1906. 36 pp., 

5 pis. 
WS 164. Underground waters of Tennessee and Kentucky west of Tennessee River and of an adjacent 

area in Illinois, by L. C. Glenn. 1906. 173 pp., 7 pis. 
B 293. A reconnaisjsance of some gold and tin deposits of the southern Appalachians, by L. C. Groton, 

with notes on the Dahlonega mines, by W. Lindgren. 1906. ^ 134 pp., 9 pis. 
B 294. Zinc and lead deposits of the upper Mississippi Valley, by H. Foster Bain. 1906. 155 pp., 16pls. 
B 295. The Yukon-Tanana region, Alaska, description of circle quadrangle, by L. M. Prindle. 1906. 

27 pp., 1 pi. 
B 296. Eqonomic geology of the Independence quadrangle, Kansas, by Frank C. Schrader and 

Erasmus Haworth. 1906. 74 pp. 6 pis. 
WS 181. Geology and water resources of Owens Valley, California, by Willis T. Lee. 1906. 28 pp., 

6 pis. 
B 297. The Yampa coal field, Routt County, Colo., by N. M. Fenneman, Hoyt S. Gale, and M. R. Camp- 
bell. 1906. 96 pp., 9 pis. 
B 300. Economic geology of the Amity quadrangle in eastern Washington County, Pa., by F. G. 

Clapp. 1906. —pp., 8 pis. 
B 303. Preliminary account of Goldfield, Bullfrog, and other mining districts in southern Nevada, by 

F. L. Ransome, with notes on the Manhattan district, by G. H. Garrey and W. H. Emmons. 
- 1906. —pp., 5 pis. 
B 304. Oil and gas fields of Greene County, Pa., by R. W. Stone and F. G. Clapp. 1906. — pp., 3 pis. 
WS 188. Water resources of the Rio Grande Valley in New Mexico and their development, by W. T. 

Lee. 1906. —pp., 10 pis. 
B 306. Rate of recession of Niagara Falls, by G. K. Gilbert, accompanied by a report on the survey of 

the crest, by W. Carvel Hall. 1906. 31 pp., 11 pis. 

SERIES F, GEOGRAPHY. 
[All are bulletins thus far except Profsseional Paper 45.] 

5. Dictionary of altitudes in United States, by Henry Gannett. 1884. 325 pp. (Out of stock; see 

Bulletin 274. ) 

6. Elevations in Dominion of Canada, by J. W. Spencer. 1884. 43 pp. (Out of stock.) 

13. Boundaries of United States and of the several States and Territories, with historical sketch of 
territorial changes, by Henry Gannett. 1885. 135 pp. (Out of stock; see Bulletin 226.) 

48. On form and position of sea level, by R. S. Woodward. 1888. 88 pp. (Out of stock.) 

49. Latitudes and longitudes of certain points in Missouri, Kansas, and New Mexico, by R. S. Wood- 

ward. 1889. 133 pp. (Out of stock.) 

50. Formulas and tables to facilitate the consti-uction and use of maps, by R. S. Woodward. 1889. 

124 pp. (Out of stock.) . , 

70. Report on astronomical work of 1889 and 1890, by R. S. Woodward. 1890. 79 pp. 
72. Altitudes between Lake Superior and Rocky Mountains, by Warren Upham. 1891. 229 pp. 
76. Dictionary of altitudes in United States (second edition), by Henry Gannett. 1891. 393 pp. (Out 

of stock; see Bulletin 274.) 

115. Geographic dictionary of Rhode Island, by Henry Gannett. 1894. 31 pp. 

116. Geographic dictionary of Massachusetts, by Henry Gannett. 1894. 126 pp. 

117. Geographic dictionary of Connecticut, by Henry Gannett. 1894. 67 pp. 

118. Geographic dictionary of New Jer.sey, by Henry Gannett. 1894. 131 pp. 

122. Results of primary triangulation, by Henry Gannett. 1894. 412 pp., 17 pis. (Out of stock.) 

123. Dictionary of geographic positions, by Henry Gannett. 1895. 183 pp., 1 map. (Out of stock.) 
154. Gazetteer of Kansas, by Henry Gannett. 1898. 246 pp., 6 pis. 

160, Dictionary of altitudes in United States (third edition), by Henry Gannett. 1899. 775 pp. 

(Out of stock, see Bulletin 274.) 
166. Gazetteer of Utah, by Henry Gannett. 1900. 43 pp., 1 map. (Out of stock.) 
169. Altitudes in Alaska, by Henry Gannett. 1900. 13 pp. 



SERIES LIST. V 

170. Survey of boundary line between Idaho and Montana from international boundary to crest ot 

Bitterroot Mountains, by R. U. Goode. 1900. 67 pp., 14 pis. 

171. Boundaries of United States and of the several States and Territories, with outline of hi.story 

of all important changes of territory (second edition), by Henry Gannett. 1900. 142 pp.. n'i 
pis. (Out of stock; see Bulletin 226.) 

174. Survey of northwestern boundary of United States, 18.57-1.S61, by Marcus Baker. 1900. 78 i)p., 

1 pL 

175. Triangulation and spirit leveling in Indian Territory, by (". II. Fitch. 1900. 141 pp., 1 pi. 

181. Results of primary triangulation and primary traver.se, fi.scal year 1900-1901, by H. M. ^Vilson, 
J. H. Rcnshawe, E. M. Douglas, and R. U. Goode. 1901. 240 pp., 1 map. 

183. Gazetteer of Porto Rico, by Henry Gannett. 1901. 51 pp. 

185. Results of spirit leveling, fiscal year 1900-1901, by H. M. Wilson, .J. H. Rensbawe, E. M. Douglas, 
and R. U. Goode. 1901. 219 pp. 

187. Geographic dictionary of Alaska, by Marcus Baker. 1901. 446 pp. (Out of .stock.) 

190. Gazetteer of Texas, by Henry Gannett. 1902. 162 pp., 8 pis. (Out of stock.) 

192. Gazetteer of Cuba, by Henry Gannett. 1902. 113 pp., 8 pis. (Out of stock.) 

194. Northwest boundary of Texas, by Marcus Baker. 1902. 51 pp., 1 pi. 

196. Topographic development of the Klamath Mountains, by J. S. Diller. 1902. 69 pp., 13 pis. 

197. The origin of certain place names in the United States, by Henry Gannett. 1902. 280 pp. (Out 

of stock; see Bulletin 258.) 
201. Results of primary triangulation and primary traverse, fiscal year 1901-2, by 11. M. Wilson, J. H. 

Renshawe, E. M. Douglas, and R. U. Goode. 1902. 164 pp., 1 pi. 
214. Geographic tables and formulas, compiled by S. S. Gannett. 1903. 284 pp. (Out of stock; .see 

Bulletin 234.) 
216. Results of primary triangulation and primary traverse, fiscal year 1902-3, by S. S. Gannett. 1903. 

222 pp., 1 pi. 
224. Gazetteer of Texas (second edition) , by Henry Gannett. 1904. 177 pp., 7 pis. 
226. Boundaries of the United States and of the several States and Territories, with an outline of the 

history of all important changes of territory (third edition), by Henry Gannett, 1904. 145 pp., 

54 pis. 

230. Gazetteer of Delaware, by Henry Gannett. 1904. 15 pp. 

231. Gazetteer of Maryland, by Henry Gannett. 1901. 84 pp. 

232. Gazetteer of Virginia, by Henry Gannett. 1904. 159 pp. 

233. Gazetteer of West Virginia, by Henry Gannett. 1904. 164 pp. 

234. Geographic tables and formulas (second edition), compiled by S. S. Gannett. 1904. 310 pp. 
245. Results of primary triangulation and primary traverse, fiscal year 1902-3, by S. S. Gannett. 1904. 

328 pp., 1 pi. 
248. Gazetteer of Indian Territory, by Henry Gannett. 1904. 70 pp. 
258. The origin of certain place names in the United States (second edition), by Henry Gannett. 

1905. 334 pp. 

Professional Paper 45. The geography and geology of Alaska, a summary of existing knowledge, 
by A. H. Brooks, with a section on climate, by Cleveland Abbe, jr., and a topographic map and 
description thereof, by R. U. Goode. 1906. 327 pp., 34 pis. 

274. A dictionary of altitudes in the United States (fourth edition), comi)iled by Henry Gannett. 

1906. 1072 pp. 

276. Results of primary triangulation and i)rimary tniverse, fiscal year 1904-5, by S. S. Gannett. 1905. 

263 pp., 1 pi. 
281. Results of spirit leveling in the State of New York for the years 1896 to 1905, inclusive, by S. S. 

Gannett and D. H. Baldwin. 1906. 112 pp. 
288. Results of spirit leveling in Pennsylvania for the years 1S99 to 1905, inclusive, by S. S. Gannett 

and D. H. Baldwin. 1906. 62 pp. 
291. Gazetteer of Colorado, by Henry Gannett. 1906. 185 pp. 
299. Geographic dictionary of Alaska, by Marcus Baker; second edition, i)repared by .lames McCormick. 

1906. 690 pp. 
302. Areas of the United States, the States, and the Territories, by Henry Gannett. 1906. 9 pp., 1 pi. 
306. Rate of recession of Niagara Falls, by G. H. Gilbert, accompanied by a report on the survey of 
the crest, by W. C. Hall. 1906. 31 pp., 11 pis. 

Correspondence should be addrest to 

The I)iHEC"roK, 

United States Geological Survey, 

AVashingtox, 1). C. 
Decemher, 190t 

o 



LBJL'07 



4r 



